Evaluating Learning

Writing Assignment Contract

WRITING ASSIGNMENT CONTRACT

(200 points)

The writing assignment for this semester will be an original
research report that focuses on clearly stating and carefully
solving a problem of your choice. You will be required to use
electronic database resources for reference material and potential
solutions for the problem or situation. This assignment will be
graded using a "contact" scale. This means that there is a set of
minimum requirements of acceptable quality submitted that will used
to determine the final grade on the Writing Assignment.

1) a particular population of people who have special problems or
issues related to HIV disease,
(pregnant teen-agers in the US and the health care of their babies)
or
(prostitutes in Calcutta and their need for information on sexually
transmitted infections)

2) a specific problem of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
(need for human trials of drugs and vaccines)
(federal funding of health insurance)

STEP 2. DO RESEARCH ON YOUR CHOICE OF POPULATION OR PROBLEM:

Using the electronic databases in the libraries to search for
legitimate research articles from "peer-reviewed" journals (those
that have serious scholars as editors and reviewers). Find at least
one article for FOUR out of the eight categories: 1. Medical; 2.
Psychological; 3. Political; 4. Educational; 5. Economic, 6. Legal,
7. Ethical, 8. Religious. THREE of these FOUR articles MUST BE FROM
2000! You may use more than four articles, but your must have a
minimum of four (three from 2000). Submit a photocopy of the title
page of each reference article (not the title page of the journal
volume) that you plan to use with your Topic-Database-Reference
Search Results.

STEP 3. SUBMIT RESEARCH TOPIC-DATABASE-REFERENCE SEARCH RESULTS NO
LATER
THAN THE END OF CLASS ON 28 September 2000:

Use the following format to submit your Topic-Database-Reference
Search Results (typed, hard-copy only) to me no later than the end
of class on 28 September.

Name:
One or two sentences describing the Population or Problem you have
chosen to study:
Database(s) used:
topic(s) searched:
subtopic(s):
Reference citations:

Medical Librarian Jackie Mardikian from the Library of Science
and Medicine and Lisa Vecchio from the Douglass Library will be
presenting a session to the class on 21 September in the Records
Hall Computing Lab. Jackie Mardikian will also be available on-line
to answer your questions on how to use Rutgers Libraries electronic
resources. She has also provided for special training sessions on
how to use these electronic resources in the LSM Electron Resources
Classroom. In addition, students can get help at the reference
desks at any of the libraries, or make an appointment with Ms.
Mardikian during her regularly scheduled reference desk hours or at
another mutually agreeable time.

STEP 4. WRITE RESEARCH REPORT:

Using the references, describe the population, the HIV-related
issue(s) of that population and how you would
make recommendations for solution(s) to the problem(s). Limit your
description and solution to four typewritten
pages (10 or 12 point font). Any material after the page 4 will not
be considered!

STEP 5. USE OF REFERENCE MATERIALS:

In the body of your research report, use quotes from the reference
articles to support your descriptions of the
population, problem and solution you have chosen for your research.

Use statistics, graphs, charts, tables from the reference articles
to support your description of the population,
problem or solution. Use an APPENDIX of STATISTICS (page 5) for
these data.

STEP 7. OUTLINE OF SOLUTION (APPENDIX 2: SOLUTION PLAN)

Write a detailed outline of your solution, For example, if you
design an educational program, list the topics to
be covered in the lesson plan, the length of the class, the
frequency, the grade level.

STEP 8. ASK THREE COLLEAGUES to CRITIQUE your RESEARCH REPORT:

When you have completed your research paper, have three friends
read and critique your paper. On a
separate piece of paper for each of them, have each one answer
these questions as they critique your research
and recommendations.

Name:

Relationship to author:

Occupation:

Critique questions:

1. What is the unique feature of the study population or problem
described by the author?

2. Is the HIV-related problem or issue clearly described and valid
for the study population or problem?

3. How does the author use comments or data from the references?

( Does the author describe, and define the problem and/or support
the solution?)

4. How can the author improve this description of the population,
the problem and the solution?

5. Did you learn anything from this research report? If so, what?

STEP 9. REBUTTAL OF CRITIQUES:

On another page, state whether the suggestions from the critics
would improve your paper. That is, do you agree with the criticisms
and how would you change your paper if you could?

STEP 10. PROFESSIONAL REVIEW OF YOUR SOLUTION PLAN:

Ask a professional in the field, i.e., if you design an education
plan, ask a teacher, to critique your Detailed Outline of the
Solution, using the same questions that were given for the
"colleague critiques".

- Students are asked to use the electronic databases available
through the library to find original, peer reviewed, research
studies that assist them in describing the problem, the population,
and/or a solution. The students must find at least one article for
four of eight categories: medical, psychological, political,
educational, economic, legal, ethical, and religious. An outline of
the intended discussion, with photocopies of the first page of each
of the four articles, is required for a preproposal review to be
sure the student has not chosen a topic that is too narrow, too
broad, or too obscure. The obscurity issue usually manifests itself
when very few references are found, or many references are from
years previous to the current year. The currency requirement
ensures that current and most accurate information is used, (i.e.,
data on perinatal transmission has shown reduced rates of
transmission in more recent years, due to use of aggressive
treatment drug regimes during pregnancy). Using data three to five
years old can negatively affect the analysis and interpretation.

- The paper itself is limited to four pages. Brevity is a valuable
commodity when one is reading 450 papers. Secondly, students are
really forced to focus on the critical concepts rather than ramble.
Before submission, four peers are asked to provide a written
critique of the paper, looking for clarity, use of quotes,
statistics, convincing argument for the solution plan, and whether
they learned anything themselves. This gives the student
opportunities to re-write or re-think depending on peers' comments.
Finally, a detailed solution plan is developed in an outline as an
Appendix item. Again this keeps the rhetoric to a minimum and ideas
and their relationship clear in the hierarchy of the outline. A
professional must review the plan if the student wishes to achieve
a grade of "A." Professionals can be teachers who review education
intervention plans, health care providers who review clinic
outreach programs, or lawyers who comment on the feasibility of
suggested legislation.

- The writing assignment is structured as a contract: the more work
contributed, the higher the grade. The Writing Assignment,
developed and refined over the years, is a paper that requires
research of a student's own choosing that addresses a problem with
AIDS. Essentially the students are asked to select a population
that has a problem with AIDS and design a solution plan.